Worlds Without End (Shadowrun)

Rating:
Summary: Too much "setting", not enough substance
Review: I agree with many of the nay-sayers here. WWE seems, to me, to focus more on placing Aina in as many locations (in both time and location) as possible before the book ran out. Also, it seemed like putting in conflicts was an afterthought and Caroline just wanted to write a novel about elves and hadn't thought out much more beyond that point.

I couldn't understand the great extent of apparent temporal shift Aina seemed to experience. I knew she was an immortal elf after the first chapter. It seemed unnecissary to keep driving that point home throughout the whole book.

I DO feel this book can be helpful to others who strive to right for the Shadowrun genre as an example of what NOT to do.

Rating:
Summary: Very very weak novel
Review: I am very disappointed. At first, I wanted to write, this novel is a piece of a sh*t, but I realized, I have to be more precise.

Reading the first few pages I thought, this novel has a special feeling. But after that the writing and storyline was boring all the time, no stress, no thrill or excitation. This novel has nothing to do with the Shadowrun world, the author does not possess any real knowledge about Shadowrun background and/or technology.
I don't mind if there is no technology in a novel, although it is unusual in a Shadowrung world. But in this book the super-heroes travel all the time to gather forces against a feared enemy (like the voyage of Marco Polo, but not as exciting), an enemy which is defeated by the main character alone without excitation.

At the end of the book the author wrote, it is her first Shadowrun novel. I hope it is hers last, as well.

Rating:
Summary: Does what it sets out to do, but not well-written
Review: I read this book for the Earthdawn-Shadowrun crossover. Personally, I find the Fourth World/immortal elf etc aspect of Shadowrun fascinating.

So if you're like me, well, WWE has immortal elves galore, and adds more fuel to the whole 'background threat' aspect of Shadowrun.

But what horrible writing!

Clearly, the author could not reveal too much about Shadowrun's backstory. But that is no excuse for a poorly thought-out plot, and weak writing. The feeling is that the characters are moved from one set-piece to another, not because of any real need in the storyline, but because there is a perceived need for certain things to happen. The explanation to resolve a certain ambiguity in the Tir Tairngire sourcebook is made a contrived fashion which exemplifies the tone of the book.

And it is extremely difficult to sympathise with a rude, cranky anti-heroine with poor communication skills.

A final criticism - this book appears to be of the same thickness as other Shadowrun novels, but the content falls sadly short. Lots of space at the start of each chapter, and larger than usual font. And an excerpt from another novel pads the thickness of the book somemore.

FASA would have done better to edit this 'novel' a lot more heavily and published it as a short story.

Rating:
Summary: A great symbiosis of Shadowrun and Earthdawn
Review: Ok, this is not one of the usual SR-novels with a big, bad Con and brave, altruistic runners (don't get me wrong, I like those also) - but its a great book nonetheless ! The plot may be not easy to understand for someone who has no experience with the world of Earthdawn, but if you have, this is the most important step in SR-history that far... the horrors have finally and definitely come back to the world!! To those who complain about how "easy" the horror was defeated at the end I have to say : "You did not understand the end (and most of the plot before) at all!!"

Rating:
Summary: intended trilogy
Review: Out of fairness this book was originally intended as part of a Trilogy. This was supposed to be the last book in the trilogy, but since the popularity of the Shadowrun series was much greater than that of Earthdawn, this was the first to be printed. Prior to FASA's cancellation of Earthdawn, there were two more books that Caroline was supposed to write (and may have indeed written ?) that are based in the earlier timeframe of the Immortal Elves. That being said, this book was incredible. Nice look at the tragic lives of characters whose lives span millenia. If you like Earthdawn, it is a nice peek into an older age and what is to come.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: This book was great and very informative. It deals with alot of the cross over bestween Earthdawn and Shadowrun. As for the ending of the story. I will just say read into it...some say the main creature was too easily defeated...but at what cost? If you do not deal alot with the Shadowrun/Earthdawn crossover you may be a little lost with this story. Personaly I can't wait to read the other 2...

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting but not your normal shadowrun novel
Review: this book was un like any other shadowrun book novel i've ever read. it was in the first person with the perspective from the same character the whole time, there were not shoot'em up sequences or heavy battle scenes and the ending well(dont wanna give it away) wasn't like the other SR novels i've read.

But i liked it. i love shadowrun novels the way they are most of the time but this was a very interesting glimpse into the life one imortal elf. the story was good, the writing was good, and all the characters were good. i enjoyed reading it in the first person. it was a nice change and let us get a more indepth look at aina the main character.

the creatures like elfs and dragons are a very interesting part of shadowrun because they have lived through different cycles of magic and know more about it than anyone. i wish i could read the other two books the author wrote for Earthdawn but i dont think they were published... but i might try some other ED novels just to see what that world was like.

the only thing i was disapointed in was that it didn't realy have much of a climax and the ending read more like the beginging to the trilogy and not the end. i know the dragon heart series kind of followed up(in a more traditional setting) on the subject of the evil enemy and included a little bit of aina and halequin ended up playing an important roll.

WWE's different style was a refreshing change from the normal SR novel, because lets face it, most SR novels are pretty much the same. although i love them it does get kind of boring reading stories with the same formula all the time.

Rating:
Summary: Not so fast...
Review: This is not an action novel.

Take your basic immortal elf. She survives one horrible set of circumstances, albeit with severe emotional trauma. She spends a few bad millenia, only to find that the trouble is returning, worse than before. And throw in a little bit of a Cassandra complex, too.

Just like in the Shadowrun game, the main characters are so powerful that using them for action sequences would be overkill. This book is about emotions- fears, hates, grudges, etc. On that level it succeeds, and I can't wait to see more of the same, if it ever gets published.

This is one of the few Shadowrun stories that might have made it on its own WITHOUT the background universe.

Rating:
Summary: The bad apple of the barrel
Review: Worlds without end has got to be the worst story of the shadowrun universe. The indepth technoligal/magical outlook found in the other books is noticably lacking. Furthermore the storyline feels like a slow moving slug trying to outrun a path of salt (ie it has no punch or climax). The mysical spirt/demon that threatens the entire world is so easily defeated one wonders why he was such a threat to begin with. The characters are of generic whitewashed stock and can hardly be remembered form page to page. My advice to anyone reading the series is to skip this one so as not to be tainted by an author writting in the wrong genere. For those who have already read the book...FASA owes you an apology